What is a timesheet?
A timesheet is a document that tracks how many hours employees work and what they do during a set period. It records time spent on tasks, projects, client work, team meetings and administrative duties.
Businesses use timesheets to improve efficiency, manage resources, plan schedules, track project progress and create detailed records and reports for payroll, invoicing or compliance.
Timesheets can be in paper form, in spreadsheet software or in another online time-tracking program. Typically, companies with regular or freelance employees are most likely to use them.
Examples of timesheets for different types of employee
Here are some different samples of timesheets for employees.
Part-time employee timesheet example
Noah’s Donuts
543 Maple Grove Lane, Austin, TX 73301
555-123-4567
Employee name: Samantha James
Employee ID: PT1123
Manager name: Jamie Thompson
| Week Day | Start Time | End Time | Break Hours | Duties Performed | Total Hours |
| Monday | 8:00 AM | 12:00 PM | 0.50 | Customer service, inventory restocking, cleaning tables, preparing coffee, handling orders | 3.50 |
| Wednesday | 9:00 AM | 1:30 PM | 0.50 | Cashiering, assisting with deliveries, preparing sandwiches, refilling supplies, cleaning equipment | 4.00 |
| Friday | 7:30 AM | 12:00 PM | 0.50 | Opening the shop, preparing donuts, maintaining hygiene standards, greeting customers, organizing displays | 4.00 |
| Total Hours | — | — | — | — | 11.50 |
| Rate/Hour | $18.00 | — | — | — | — |
| Total Pay | $207.00 | — | — | — |
Remote worker timesheet example
Fathom Communications Group
220 Orbit Parkway, Denver, CO 80203
555-789-2345
Employee name: Alyssa Vega
Employee ID: RM2034
Manager name: Vivian Wilson
| Week Day | Start Time | End Time | Break Hours | Tasks Completed | Total Hours |
| Monday | 9:00 AM | 3:00 PM | 0.5 | Client call, report writing | 5.50 |
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM | 4:00 PM | 0.5 | Social media planning, content creation | 5.50 |
| Wednesday | 9:30 AM | 2:30 PM | 0.5 | Campaign analysis, client updates | 4.50 |
| Friday | 11:00 AM | 3:00 PM | 0.5 | Draft presentations, team check-in | 3.50 |
| Total Hours | — | — | — | — | 19.00 |
| Rate/Hour | $25.00 | — | — | — | — |
| Total Pay | $475.00 | — | — | — |
Example of a timesheet for a shift worker
Solar Solutions
890 Sunrise Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ 85016
555-654-9876
Employee name: Darius Johnson
Employee ID: SW5589
Manager name: Parth Patel
| Week Day | Shift Start | Shift End | Break Hours | Tasks Completed | Regular Hours | Overtime Hours | Total Hours |
| Monday | 6:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 1.00 | Solar panel maintenance, system checks, team safety training, stocktake | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Tuesday | 4:00 PM | 12:00 AM | 1.00 | Emergency repairs, equipment inspections, power outage support | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
| Thursday | 6:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 1.00 | Routine inspections, panel cleaning, safety audits, risk assessment | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Friday | 4:00 PM | 12:00 AM | 1.00 | Night repairs, troubleshooting, final shift report | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
| Total Hours | — | — | — | — | 28.00 | 2.00 | 30.00 |
| Rate/Hour | $22.00 | $33.00 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total Pay | $616.00 | $66.00 | — | — | — | $682.00 |
Freelancer working across multiple clients/projects
Mint & Basil Organics
123 Green Way, Seattle, WA 98101
555-246-1357
Freelancer name: Francesca Garza
Week commencing on: November 20, 2024
| Week Day | Client/Project | Start Time | End Time | Break Hours | Total Hours |
| Monday | Basil Inc. – Marketing | 9:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 0.5 | 4.50 |
| Tuesday | Mint Inc. – Branding | 11:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 1.0 | 5.00 |
| Wednesday | Basil Inc. – Strategy | 8:00 AM | 12:00 PM | 0.5 | 3.50 |
| Thursday | Mint Inc. – Ads Review | 10:00 AM | 1:00 PM | 0.0 | 3.00 |
| Friday | Mixed clients – Final Edits | 9:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 0.5 | 4.50 |
| Total Hours | — | — | — | — | 20.50 |
| Rate/Hour | $45.00 | — | — | — | — |
| Total Pay | $922.50 | — | — | — | $922.50 |
Timesheets vs. timecards
A timecard captures when an employee starts and ends their shift, monitors breaks, calculates hours worked and tracks overtime. Timesheets offer a broader perspective by logging specific activities, tasks, client work, project milestones and meetings, making them ideal for freelancers, remote teams and project-based roles. Choosing the right tool depends on your business needs.
Example of a time card
Here’s a timecard sample:
Happy Heart Smoothies
789 Orchard Avenue, Portland, OR 97201
555-321-9876
Employee name: Swathi Banerjee
Employee ID: TC1347
Manager name: Sharon Eisenstein
| Week Day | Shift Start | Shift End | Break Hours | Regular Hours | Overtime Hours | Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00 AM | 2:00 PM | 0.50 | 5.50 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM | 3:30 PM | 0.50 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Thursday | 7:30 AM | 12:30 PM | 0.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Friday | 10:00 AM | 5:00 PM | 1.00 | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Total Hours | — | — | — | 22.50 | 0.00 | 22.50 |
| Rate/Hour | $15.00 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total Pay | $337.50 | — | — | — | — |
What are the benefits of using timesheets for employers?
Your human resources department uses timesheets to track time spent working during a given time period. A weekly timesheet, for example, would record working hours for a particular week.
Let’s look at more reasons why you might find timesheets useful.
Payroll processing
Companies use timesheets to work out an employee’s pay for a given period. You can do this by referencing when an employee started and finished their work along with any breaks they took during their shift and noting the duties they completed while working. Companies can use timesheets to make sure employees are being paid accurately.
Management accounting
Timesheets are useful for managing accounting. The information in a timesheet helps employers and supervisors assign tasks, schedule and determine whether new hires are needed to help with the workload.
For example, timesheets help managers determine how long it took an employee to complete a task and identify delays in the work’s completion. Depending on what information the timecard includes, managers can decide to assign less time-consuming tasks or more time-consuming tasks with a longer or shorter deadline.
Project or client-based work
You can use timesheets to track the billable hours an employee spends with a client or the amount of time they spent on a particular project. For example, freelancers can benefit from the use of a timesheet because they’re typically paid on an hourly basis.
A timesheet also helps the client in this scenario because they’ll be able to see where their money is going. By the same token, timesheets also help a company’s human resources department because they’re able to track the activities being completed and the time spent on them, which can aid with future planning.
Weekly Timesheet Form Template for PDF & Excel
Check out our weekly timesheet template that you can use to track employees working hours.
*Indeed provides these examples as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your HR or legal adviser, and none of these documents reflect current labor or employment regulations.
Frequently asked questions about timesheets
Should employers keep timesheets for all employees?
Employers are generally required to keep timesheets for non-exempt employees to meet labor laws, track overtime, calculate wages accurately, document hours worked for legal purposes and comply with industry regulations. For exempt employees, timesheets may not be mandatory, but they can be useful for tracking vacation, sick days, personal time off, project hours, long-term scheduling and task distribution.
Who should take ownership of timesheets in your business?
Ownership of timesheets typically falls to managers or HR staff handling payroll, employee scheduling, compliance monitoring, dispute resolution and workforce analysis. These individuals make sure timesheets are accurate, submitted on time, reviewed for errors, cross-checked against project deadlines, validated for compliance and prepared for payroll processing.
In smaller businesses, a business owner or team supervisor may oversee timesheets, while larger companies often assign the task to payroll or accounting departments. Consistent oversight supports compliance with labor laws, prevents payroll discrepancies, improves accountability and builds trust across teams.
What is an online or digital timesheet?
A digital timesheet is an online tool that tracks work hours, records breaks, logs project time, monitors productivity and automates payroll processing. The big difference between digital and manual timesheets is automation.
Digital timesheets are often integrated with your payroll software, cutting down time spent inputting data and reducing the risk of manual errors. Employees can usually access it through a secure portal to input their start and end times, select tasks or projects, track overtime and submit entries for approval.
Just like with regular timesheets, managers use digital timesheets to review hours worked, verify task completion, manage schedules, track billable hours and maintain compliance with labor regulations.
Is a timesheet the same as a contractor invoice?
Contractor invoices differ from timesheets in that an invoice is a bill for products and services, while a timesheet is specifically designed for recording hours worked for payroll and accounting.
In some cases, a contractor may include the hours worked on an invoice to provide an itemized accounting of charges, but that is the only similarity between the two documents.
